SAN BERNARDINO – In 1947, a boy named Robert “Bob” Bratton and a girl then known as Sue Cooper studied and played together at the former Sturges Junior High School.

Cooper left such a lasting impression on the boy from San Bernardino that prior to his death in August of 2009, he named her as one of the beneficiaries in his will.

The others have all been found, but the search is still on for Bratton’s unforgettable junior high friend.

“We are reaching out to the older generation of the San Bernardino area for any information on where Sue Cooper is in an effort to honor Bob’s last wishes as expressed in his last will and testament,” said his attorney, Troy Wilson of the Wilson Law office in Salt Lake City. “All we want is a happy ending.”

For legal reasons, Wilson did not disclose information on what Cooper was left in the will. All he would say is a provision had been made.

The story in need of a happy ending began in the late 1940s when Bratton and Cooper are believed to have attended school together at Sturges and possibly later at San Bernardino High School.

Bratton fell for his classmate because she was always friendly and nice to him.

Perhaps something more could have come of the early attraction, but in 1949 when Bratton was 18, he was badly injured when a tire exploded in his father’s auto shop.

The explosion caused eye, ear and some brain damage.

His father died three years after the accident, and he spent almost all of the remainder of his life being cared for by his mother.

At some point, they moved to Salt Lake City.

Wilson met Bratton in the summer of 2008, shortly after his mother died.

At the time the grieving man came up with a list of people he wanted to include in his will to get part of his inheritance.

Cooper’s name was always at the top.

“Although he had suffered a tragic accident at a young age and despite the physical and mental ailments from that accident, he remembered Cooper from school, and spoke of her in every conversation, often with tears in his eyes,” Wilson said.

So when Bratton died, the law office began contacting folks in San Bernardino, including staff at San Bernardino High School, in an effort to find Cooper.

Michelle Rogers-Cheeley, program specialist at the high school, and principal Sandra Rodriguez searched through old yearbooks and contacted old-timers in the community in an effort to find her.

But they have not had much luck.

`We thought it was such a sweet story, so we wanted to do everything in our power to try and find her,” said Rogers-Cheeley. “But so far we have been unable to do so.”

Everyone involved remains hopeful that the girl who stole Bratton’s heart so many years ago will be found.

If you are Sue Cooper or someone with information on her please contact the Wilson Law Office in Salt Lake City at 801-467-5800 or by e-mail at iknowsuecooper@gmail.com.